MOAR!

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This made me cry. Please don’t apologize. It’s beautiful. At 14, my own biological father made me destroy all my plush animals. Do you believe in magic? A few years ago, my partner found an Etsy listing for a plush like my favorite one. When it arrived, Lamby still had the rip on his front left leg. I don’t know how it’s the same one, but he is.

I survived my upbringing. But a part of me didn’t. If that part of me sat in a station like the one here (I imagine there are many), it is nice to know there was a compassionate guide there to ease the way.

Beautifully written. There’s something about this style that just captures you. I knew what was happening and I still wanted to know what was next

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There is a spot on the beach where I watch the stars. The breeze is gentle and the air is warm over the sand, but I don't know why, because there's never been a sun to warm it.

The waves lap gently against the shore. This island isn't large, just a short walk under the stars, yet here is where I am. Where I've always been. Where I shall be. I lean across to put another log on the campfire. In protest it hisses and spits, voicing it's displeasure to the empty night, but takes flame nonetheless. I look away as my eyes readjust to the firelight.

A soft wind rustles the trees behind me, and I wonder what will wash up next. All sorts of things can end up here - broken things usually. Toys, charms, mechanisms and contraptions. But also people, and ideas too.

Where do dreams go when they are forgotten? I'm not sure, but some of them come here, washing up on my shores, poor things. Always alone, shivering with cold. Their light fades in to the night before they return to the sand, and there's nothing I can do for lost dreams. But others I can help. Some of the broken things I can fix. Not all. But some. The people who come here need safety, a moment's rest. Between the sea of stars and the whispering sand, here they can find it. And I am glad I can help them. It's all I can do to watch over what arrives on my shore - to pick them up, to hold them, to whisper encouragement in their ear. Everyone needs that from time to time, especially when they end up here. They need to sit down, dry themselves by the fire, and watch the stars with me, just for a moment in the dark.

I sit on my beach and watch my stars. The night is warm and the water is close. My island floats alone in a sea of endless dark. Here is my place, caught between past and future as an endless present. I put more wood on the fire and watch the smoke curl upwards in to the mirror-black sky.

Excellent prompt. Reminds me of this one. https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/comments/u9ey3u/tt_a_fairy_has_invited_a_vampire_over_for_tea_the/

So the Blind Eternities were a Wendy's all along. Hmm.

Same loophole for LGBT+ in the Bible. “A man shall not sleep with another man.” So lesbians are ok biblically speaking.

This sounds more like an alternate Battlestar Galactica, and I'm loving it.

But as the distortions of light and heat cleared, the Paladin stood there, unharmed, and turned back to face the Priestess.

"That won't work - this time," said the Paladin, angling the long-burned left side of her face towards the Priestess. "I've been marked by your magic before. I've spent many years since developing an appropriate counter-ward."

"You!" said the Priestess, "You're one of them! A..."

"Heathen? Perhaps I might have been, once. Before you burned my village, killed my people and ended their traditions. As it is, I know little of the ways of my people, and my own experiences have led me from their path. Barely anyone knows them any more - you did such a good job of erasing any trace of their heritage, any trace of Crag's End. But you didn't quite get one child - caught halfway by one of your blasts as she fled down an alleyway."

The Priestess had recovered a little and tried a different tact, summoning a large, green, ethereal serpent which flailed out of her staff and toward the intruder. The Paladin reached for their blade, and in a flash the snake was bisected, falling to the ground and dissolving into steam. The Priestess hadn't even seen the Paladin lunge. Just how powerful was she?

"And you used that particular trick in the neighbouring village, this time disguised as a Fallen. The accounts of your attack on the village, and defeat by one of your own faith's Priests were very convincing. But it all becomes clear when you realize that there really isn't such a thing as a Fallen, doesn't it?" said the Paladin, "That the sacred oaths and tenets are no more binding than a simple promise."

"You..." said the Priestess, trying to think of some other trick to try - something that she hadn't used before, on that northern crusade, "What do you want from me? Coin?"

The Paladin laughed at that, a long, hearty laugh that echoed around the empty temple. "No, not coin. What I want is for you to come clean about what you've been doing all these years - the lies and deception you've been using to grow your following. Purging competing faiths, telling villages and towns that your way is the only protection from the Fallen - a threat that you manufactured - I want them all to know."

"You must be truly mad if you think I'd admit to that," said the Priestess.

"Hmm," said the Paladin, squaring her shoulders, "Then it's a good thing that the second thing that I want is to prevent you from hurting anyone else, ever again."

There was another flash of light, and the Priestess' staff was cloven in two, the two pieces falling from her grip and to the ground, disintegrating into ash as the enchantment on the item failed.

"Wait!" shouted the Priestess, "Wait! I can give you the High Priests! The ones who ordered us to go north! I'll give you them! Only I have what you need!"

The Paladin's free hand went into her satchel, the left hand still on her blade. She pulled out a parchment, a list of names - how had the Paladin gotten them? They were supposed to be bound to secrecy!

"You were right about one thing, Priestess. The light does reveal all, in time. But this was no divine intervention. Your own faith turned against you in the end. The actual Priests of your faith - those that didn't agree with what you did, who actually cared - they watched, and waited. You own the guards and the courts - line their pockets with the results of your tithes. They'd find no justice going to them. But when I became involved - well, they saw the chance to set things right. I wonder what new and better version of your faith they'll build, without your toxic influence."

"No, please - I..."

There was a flash of light, and the Priestess suddenly found herself on the floor, strength ebbing as the seconds ticked down. The Paladin stood close by, and uttered a few final words.

"And if for some strange reason I'm wrong - if deities do exist, and they did choose you to wield divine power? Tell them when you meet them that they chose poorly."

The young Paladin and the older Priestess walked side-by-side through the luxurious halls of the temple. The Priestess' cane clacked against the floor as they walked.

"Pray tell, who is this Athiest? It is no deity that I've ever heard of," said the Priestess. Though her manner was courteous, her question was not asked in good faith. The newcomers had been causing a ruckus around town, and she'd be damned if she'd allow her own deity to be upstaged. This was, for her, an exercise in factfinding.

"No, my lady, I apologize for any miscommunication," said the Paladin, giving the Priestess a slight bow in courtesy, "I mean to say that I am an Atheist. That means that I personally don't believe the Gods truly exist. Though I respect that you may feel differently, being a Priestess and all."

"I don't understand," said the Priestess, any plans to thwart the newcomer momentarily forgotten in sheer shock, "You wield the power of the Light, do you not? That power must come from somewhere - some divine entity."

The Paladin shook her head, a loose wisp of hair brushing against the burned left side of her face, "No, I don't believe that it does. No divine entity has ever presented itself to me, and I have been provided with no conclusive evidence that they exist. In my youth I made prayers to whatever beings would listen, but never received any response."

The Priestess' demeanour was beginning to slip, "You're not supposed to receive a response, young Paladin. As a wielder of the Light, you're supposed to act in faith, and if you do, you will be rewarded by the higher powers. Failure to live by the tenets of your faith leads to consequences - to banishment from your faith. Surely you know this?"

"And yet, I do not, and the power is mine regardless," said the Paladin, whose patience with the Priestess suggested that they'd had this conversation before, "With no assumption of reward or punishment, the facts become all the more clearer to me. It would explain how the Fallen still wield power, despite renouncing their oaths. It explains how wrongdoing still happens in the world using divine magics. I myself have no formal tenets, and yet I continue to use my powers daily."

"You mean to say that you have no oath? No vow?" said the Priestess, venom creeping into her voice, "You have never had to make penance, or pay a tithe to a Priest or Priestess to cleanse your sins?"

The Paladin shook her head, "No, I have no tenets beyond a desire to do right by my fellows. My own powers are a mystery to me - I know not from where they originate, but I do not think they originate from Gods."

"They are of divine import!" said the Priestess, "No lowly peasant can wield the powers of the Gods. It isn't possible. Only those chosen by the faith!"

"I was once, as you so nicely put it, a peasant," said the Paladin, "Everything since then, I have learned. My powers are no weaker for my lack of reliance upon tradition or faith-based discipline."

The Priestess blinked, and spun on her heel, now directly facing the Paladin. She tapped her cane against the stone floor, as the revelation hit her, "Oh, I see! If you were of humble origins, it is possible that your patron is simply choosing not to make themselves known to you! How exciting - no doubt they will visit you, when they feel that you are sufficiently humble and willing to listen. Surely, that must be the case. Yes - the Light will reveal all in time."

"I doubt that," said the Paladin, "For even if the Gods do exist, I have cursed them many a time."

"You have blasphemed? Cursed the very Gods themselves? Why would you do this? To admit this to a Priestess of the faith, why I could have you interred! Are you some kind of heathen?" questioned the Priestess.

"No, my lady, I would not say I am an adherent of a so-called heathen faith - in fact, I have made it quite clear that I have no faith at all."

"Then, why?" asked the Priestess, whose voice was raising in anger - an insult against her faith had been made, and this 'Paladin' was only building her case for heresy for her. She would go straight to the guards afterwards. Or to the head Priest - perhaps an example could be made.

The Paladin sighed, "I have seen sights which quite plainly prove to me that there are no Gods, or - in the unlikely event that they are real, that they are cruel or indifferent. Tell me, have you ever been north, my lady - outside of the capital?"

The Priestess was guarded now, but saw no harm in responding. "No, my duties do not permit it."

There was a flash of light suddenly as the very world seemed to gleam with intensity. The Priestess suddenly found herself blinded and nauseous, blinking spots from her eyes.

"Ah," said the Paladin, "My ward wasn't triggered by your own beliefs, but that one was a lie - or more accurately, a statement which you truly believe to be a lie."

The Priestess hissed, "A Truthsayer's Ward? What authority have you to invoke this magic?"

"Only my own," replied the Paladin, "And I was reluctant to lay such a potent ward here, but I am glad my information was correct. You have been north, a rarity among your kind. To a little village called Crag's End, isn't that right?"

The Priestess stumbled and rubbed her eyes. The aftereffect of the magic had staggered her, sapped her strength momentarily. Now it was starting to come back - she had only to stall for a moment to call her own power. "Fine, I may have left the capital once or twice. What of it?"

"One of those times was eight years ago, was it not?" said the Paladin, whose back was now turned to the Priestess, expression inscrutable.

The Priestess did not reply.

"Your evasive tongue has clearly escaped you for a moment, so I'll answer truthfully for you," said the Paladin, "You did go north, eight years ago. You paid a visit to a village called Crag's End, on a mission of great importance to your faith. You walked with a cane then, too - though one a little less ornate than the one you currently use."

The Priestess' sight was coming back, and she gripped her own cane tightly. The Paladin was right - her current cane was much newer - and a far more potent focus for her magics. Perhaps it was time to show the Paladin just how much more potent. She pulled the staff back in her hands, and it swelled with energy. She lashed out with the implement, bathing the Paladin in a torrent of holy fire which caused the pews of the temple to blister and crack in the heat. She smiled - the Paladin had been a fool to turn her back on her.

_

Part two below!

Wow

This is amazing! Can you please tell me when you release another part?

If I could write I would do something with Piano Man, but I’m not very good at it. (The song came up when reading the comments, and I think it fits)

> the power of peace withdrawn.

What a haunting line.

Its just the order that is in question.

Yeah that’s the definition of virgin as unmarried, not necessarily not having sex. Just like lesbian or ace Artemis is a virgin.

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And they were roommates 👀

Sorry, I’ve been reading vampire x vampire hunter fics and that’s literally the first thing my mind thinks of for this prompt.

It wasn't meant to be this way- I wasn't meant to be on the front lines fighting this thing dammit!

The day had started off like none other, assigned to a pretty quiet area it seemed. Of course they reserved the dangerous areas to those of higher ranks. How miserable it must be- and how much I envied it. The want that is, the knowledge that people wanted you around was addicting it seemed. The glory that my associates chased, that sweet adrenaline, the rush, everything!

As bad as I wanted it this wasn't how I wanted to achieve it.

A dangerous group of villains was loose in the streets, reeking havoc and terrorising everyone that crossed their paths.

I was only meant to be helping civilians, it was a mistake that I was even called to the scene. Sadly I was one of the few heroes that were in the area at the time of the call.

I watched as the higher ranks fell to their knees, some with limbs torn off, dying or even unconscious. This wasn't my glory- it wasn't even meant to be my fight.

"Dammit..." I hissed, my voice quivering. I had no other option here! It was just me, at least until more backup arrived. Until then I had to do whatever I could in my power to slow them down or at least hold them off until everyone had fled the area.

I took a shaky breath, trying to clear my head as much as I could.

'Keep them busy Dusk, that's all you have to do.' I reminded myself, allowing for what could only be described as tendrils to stem from my exposed skin.

'Who am I kidding? I'm gonna get myself killed!'

I knew it was practically a death wish, I couldn't fight a whole group by myself, let alone hold them back after seeing their power. My mist and appendages would have to do, as well as my skills. I just hoped I could hold up.

But before I could change my mind I made my way darting towards them.

'Just hold them back- there's no need to die out here.'

I reminded myself, using any walls that remained standing and the surrounding rubble to my advantage. Luring them away from each other when I got the chance before the tendrils crushed them until debris.

That was one down and I knew I couldn't pull that trick again.

I don't know how long had passed, when I startled to stumble on the now street turned battlefield. Everything felt like it was getting darker, like something dimmed the lights and a bulb was nearly blown.

"Everyone's evacuated! Get out of there!" I heard someone shout from the ear piece that was jammed into my ear. But it sounded like they were so far away, I could tell my eardrums were likely bursted. But I couldn't comprehend why- why I was even allowing myself to do this, to go so far when I'd already done what I needed to.

Hearing that my legged finally buckled, if everyone was evacuated I didn't have to fight anymore-

The vague sounds of shouting felt so distant, I couldn't even tell how close they were. Bordering on the outskirts of all the surrounding debris. Unable to make out what followed.

weird movie called ”blood and doughnuts” is almost this.

Aww. That's unfortunate. You have real skill though!

The Hunter threw the small plate across the room, it whizzed past the Vampire's ear and hit the wall behind him.

"It doesn't even make sense, you're practically immortal! You and your ilk are supposed to be "living" in an old castle or something!" I shouted as I tried to pick up the broken plate pieces off the floor.

"We spend all our financial resources on fancy crucifix-shaped melee weapons and don't make enough to get better living accommodations, so what's your excuse for living in this dump?"

The vampire calmly took a seat while sipping some cranberry juice.

"Dude, all those old castles are hollywood propaganda. I admit we're good at sucking blood, but not so much at making money."

"For centuries our kind buried our personal wealth in random fields hoping to come back to it decades later, but then we either forgot exactly were we buried it, or we find out that somebody had built a freakin monastery above it. Don't even get me started with all the stuff I deposited with the Reichsbank in the 1940s.."

"Look I'm not too thrilled with rooming with you either, but I really don't want to move out right now and the deposit is non-refundable sooo can we at least declare this place as a neutral ground? Truce?" The Vampire said as he held out a pale hand for a handshake.

"Why would I even trust you?" The Hunter shouted angrily as he prepared to throw yet another plate at his roommate "I found you last night in that alleyway where 3 people have been found drained of their blood in the past week alone! In the middle of the freaking crime scene! Good thing I recognized you before I drove that stake into your chest!"

"Dude, again I'm telling you it wasn't me." The vampire stood up, apparently mimicking a shaggy-like dance from that song that was popular decades ago. "I was there dumpster diving, looking for a meal- but not like what you're thinking! I wasn't looking for fresh blood, I was in that dumpster looking for that crate of expired cranberry juice they threw out-" as the vampire reflexively blocked his head with his hands as the hunter was about to throw another innocent plate.

"How do I know I can trust you?"

"Didn't I tell you I am vegan?"

"Everyday for the past month since we moved in, and that was before I found out what you really are, you monster! How is it even possible for a vampire to be vegan? How do I know you're not lying?"

"You'd be amazed at what modern technology can do, and it doesn't even involve stem cells!" The vampire beams happily, baring his retainer covered fangs.

"So truce?"

"Yeah sure, truce, but the moment you act sus-"

"Wouldn't think of it! Now, what did you bring for lunch? I'm starving."

"Just some bread." as the Hunter passed a plate of bread to his unusual roommate.

"Dude, garlic bread? Really?"

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